1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting a reference signal in a wireless communication system.
2. Related Art
The next-generation multimedia wireless communication systems which are recently being actively researched are required to process and transmit various pieces of information, such as video and wireless data as well as the initial voice-centered services. The 4th generation wireless communication systems which are now being developed subsequently to the 3rd generation wireless communication systems are aiming at supporting high-speed data service of downlink 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second) and uplink 500 Mbps (Megabits per second). The object of the wireless communication system is to establish reliable communications between a number of users irrespective of their positions and mobility. However, a wireless channel has abnormal characteristics, such as path loss, noise, a fading phenomenon due to multi-path, Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI), and the Doppler Effect resulting from the mobility of a user equipment. A variety of techniques are being developed in order to overcome the abnormal characteristics of the wireless channel and to increase the reliability of wireless communication.
Technology for supporting reliable and high-speed data service includes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), and so on. An OFDM system is being considered after the 3rd generation system which is able to attenuate the ISI effect with low complexity. The OFDM system converts symbols, received in series, into N (N is a natural number) parallel symbols and transmits them on respective separated N subcarriers. The subcarriers maintain orthogonality in the frequency domain. It is expected that the market for mobile communication will shift from the existing Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system to an OFDM-based system. MIMO technology can be used to improve the efficiency of data transmission and reception using multiple transmission antennas and multiple reception antennas. MIMO technology includes spatial multiplexing, transmit diversity, beam-forming and the like. An MIMO channel matrix according to the number of reception antennas and the number of transmission antennas can be decomposed into a number of independent channels. Each of the independent channels is called a layer or stream. The number of layers is called a rank.
In wireless communication systems, it is necessary to estimate an uplink channel or a downlink channel for the purpose of the transmission and reception of data, the acquisition of system synchronization, and the feedback of channel information. In wireless communication system environments, fading is generated because of multi-path time latency. A process of restoring a transmit signal by compensating for the distortion of the signal resulting from a sudden change in the environment due to such fading is referred to as channel estimation. It is also necessary to measure the state of a channel for a cell to which a user equipment belongs or other cells. To estimate a channel or measure the state of a channel, a Reference Signal (RS) which is known to both a transmitter and a receiver can be used.
A subcarrier used to transmit the reference signal is referred to as a reference signal subcarrier, and a subcarrier used to transmit data is referred to as a data subcarrier. In an OFDM system, a method of assigning the reference signal includes a method of assigning the reference signal to all the subcarriers and a method of assigning the reference signal between data subcarriers. The method of assigning the reference signal to all the subcarriers is performed using a signal including only the reference signal, such as a preamble signal, in order to obtain the throughput of channel estimation. If this method is used, the performance of channel estimation can be improved as compared with the method of assigning the reference signal between data subcarriers because the density of reference signals is in general high. However, since the amount of transmitted data is small in the method of assigning the reference signal to all the subcarriers, the method of assigning the reference signal between data subcarriers is used in order to increase the amount of transmitted data. If the method of assigning the reference signal between data subcarriers is used, the performance of channel estimation can be deteriorated because the density of reference signals is low. Accordingly, the reference signals should be properly arranged in order to minimize such deterioration.
A receiver can estimate a channel by separating information about a reference signal from a received signal because it knows the information about a reference signal and can accurately estimate data, transmitted by a transmit stage, by compensating for an estimated channel value. Assuming that the reference signal transmitted by the transmitter is p, channel information experienced by the reference signal during transmission is h, thermal noise occurring in the receiver is n, and the signal received by the receiver is y, it can result in y=h·p+n. Here, since the receiver already knows the reference signal p, it can estimate a channel information value ĥ using Equation 1 in the case in which a Least Square (LS) method is used.ĥ=y/p=h+n/p=h+{circumflex over (n)}  [Equation 1]
The accuracy of the channel estimation value ĥ estimated using the reference signal p is determined by the value {circumflex over (n)}. To accurately estimate the value h, the value {circumflex over (n)} must converge on 0. To this end, the influence of the value {circumflex over (n)} has to be minimized by estimating a channel using a large number of reference signals. A variety of algorithms for a better channel estimation performance may exist.
Meanwhile, UE positioning for estimating a location of a UE has recently been used for various usages in real life, and thus a more precise UE positioning method is required. The UE positioning is classified into two schemes.
1) Global Positioning System (GPS)-based scheme: It is a scheme of estimating a location of a UE by using a satellite. Information needs to be received from at least 4 satellites, and disadvantageously this scheme cannot be used in an indoor environment.
2) Terrestrial positioning-based scheme: It is a scheme for estimating a location of a UE by using a timing difference of signals transmitted from BSs. A signal needs to be received from at least three BSs. Even if estimation performance is not good in comparison with the GPS-based scheme, it can be used in almost all environments. A reference signal is mainly used as a signal received from the BS. According to a wireless communication system in use, the timing difference can be defined variously, such as, an Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) in a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD) in a GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), and an Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) in CDMA2000.
In the UE positioning scheme, a Location Service (LCS) Reference Signal (RS) can be used. The LCS RS may include a synchronization signal. The UE can receive the LCS RS transmitted from each cell and use a delay difference of each signal. The UE can report the delay difference to the BS so as to allow the BS to calculate the location of the UE, or can calculate the location of the UE by itself. In order to decrease inter-cell interference and to acquire a signal having a high SINR, LCS RSs transmitted from respective cells must not overlap from each other when the UE receives the LCS RS.
FIG. 1 shows a multi-cell mobile communication system and an interference relation between cells. Several BSs cover a full area of the mobile communication system, and each BS provides a service to UEs within a specific area. Each BS can provide the same service to the UEs, or can provide different services to the UEs. Each BS can provide a service by using the same resource region. In this case, a UE which receives a service from a serving cell may be interfered from a neighbor cell. Referring to FIG. 1, a UE regards a BS 1 as a serving cell. Neighbor cells (i.e., BS 2, BS 3, BS 4, BS 5, BS 6, BS 7) other than the serving cell act as interference to the UE. Among them, the nearest neighbor cell, i.e., the BS 2, acts as the strongest interference to the UE. The interference can have a significant effect particularly on a UE which is located in a cell edge. When the UE is interfered from the neighbor cell, the UE cannot feedback correct channel state information to the BS, and system efficiency deteriorates. In order to accurately measure an interference level of the neighbor cell, null resource elements (REs) may be mapped to a resource region in which a reference signal of the neighbor cell is located.
FIG. 2 shows a multi-sector mobile communication system and an interference relation between sectors. As described in FIG. 1 above, the influence of interference can also be applied to a case where one cell is divided into a plurality of sectors.
A reference signal structure for effective channel estimation and channel state measurement is required.